title: Cerebrospinal fluid IL-8 levels reflect symptoms of alexithymia in patients with non-inflammatory neurological disorders.
abstract: Several recent findings indicate that various interactions between nervous and immune system are important in the pathophysiology of alexithymia. These findings show that a significant role in developing alexithymia may play proinflammatory cytokines. Recent data also indicate that negative emotions related to depressive symptoms and anxiety are related to disturbed levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8). These findings suggest that IL-8 could present also useful immunological marker related to emotional dysregulation in alexithymia. In the present study we have performed psychometric measurement of alexithymia (TAS-20), depression (BDI-II) and anxiety (SAS), and immunochemical measure of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum levels of IL-8 in 33 inpatients with non-inflammatory neurological disorders (NIND) (mean age 38.8±12.5). The results show that IL-8 in CSF is significantly correlated with TAS-20 (Spearman R=0.46, p=0.007) and SAS (Spearman R=0.44, p=0.009) but not to BDI-II. The findings of the present study indicate that increased level of IL-8 (in CSF) may be related to symptoms of alexithymia and anxiety in patients with NIND.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuropsychiatric Research of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uher
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bob
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D001007:Anxiety / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D004660:Encephalitis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000032:analysis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016209:Interleukin-8; D002097:C-Reactive Protein